Shadowcat's Mark
by Lauren Wagner
Summary: Shadowcat of LS is marked


Kurt watched with his arms across his chest as Kitty was held down as her hands were strapped down on the arms of the chair she was in. His tail flicked faintly from the tip, showing the emotions that were raging inside of him at that moment.  
  
He and Kitty had both known this day was coming. It was the matter of when that had eluded them both. Kurt had tried to prepare her for this, telling her about how they would shave her head and how they would brand her brow. They even tried to help her get through the pain by having her stick her finger in the flame he made from his lighter.  
  
But they couldn't prepare for everything.  
  
Instead of a buzzer, the doctor took out a knife and grabbed a large chunk of her hair, pulling it harshly. Raising his eyebrows, Kurt turned to Meggan, trying to keep his voice calm.  
  
"I thought they buzzed Jew's hair off." He said. Meggan shook her head, biting her bottom lip.  
  
"No, they cut most of it off with a knife and then they buzz the rest off." She explained, wincing as the doctor started to hack at Kitty's hair.  
  
Kitty screamed as the doctor pulled harder on her hair, some of it getting torn off before the knife hacked it off.  
  
***  
  
When the doctor finally buzzed the rest of her hair off, she looked over at Kurt, tears streaming down her cheeks. He bit his lip, his eyebrows raised faintly.  
  
"It's almost over, Katzchen." He mouthed just before the brand was taken out of the fire.  
  
He winced as her screams rang out.  
  
***  
  
"I'm sorry, Katzchen." He said later, gently placing some ice-cubes wrapped in a paper towel on the brand. "I should have tried to find out how they would remove your hair."  
  
"No, it's all right." Kitty said, wincing slightly as the cubes touched the burn. "You tried your best, that's what matters." Kurt snorted, shaking his head.  
  
"What good is my best if it still doesn't help you?" he asked. Kitty took his hand and gently squeezed it.  
  
"Kurt, it helped me because I know you care about me. Why else would you take so much time trying to help me deal with that? And why else would you fake raping me to keep Hauptmann Englande away?" Kurt shrugged a bit, looking down.  
  
"I still wish I had known about the knife." He muttered.  
  
"Would you care for some nipple clamps with your horse hair shirt, mein herr?" Kitty laughed, sitting up and holding the ice to her head. Kurt laughed softly, shaking his head a bit.  
  
"Yes, I would actually. I was always into the kinky stuff actually." He said. Kitty smiled and grabbed a pillow, whapping him in the side of the head with it.  
  
"Stop making me laugh!" she said. "I just went through something very traumatic!"  
  
"Oh and you are certainly acting like it to!" Kurt said, grabbing the other pillow to fight back. Laughing, the two battled, feathers flying all over the room.  
  
Years Later On Earth 616  
  
***  
  
StarPryde was sitting in a chair with Rahne, laughing as they talked about Pete Wisdom and his bad habits of smoking. She couldn't help but think back to her husband SkyElf when they talked about Lockheed hiding Wisdom's cigarettes.  
  
Suddenly, Kurt appeared in his mother's lap, smiling up at her as he moved a bit so that he was facing her.  
  
"Well what a surprise!" StarPryde laughed, hugging her five-year-old son gently. Her daughter Johanna walked up from the room below, turning solid once she was sitting on Rahne's lap.  
  
"And what do we owe the pleasure of this sudden visit?" StarPryde asked with a smile.  
  
"We tried to get Nightcrawler to answer this question for us, but he said that we had to wait until we were older!" Kurt said, his tail twisting slightly in indignation.  
  
"Well how horrible! Isn't that right, Rahne?" StarPryde asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Aye, 'tis!" Rahne nodded with a laugh. "Wot was the question?" she asked.  
  
"We wanted to know where mommy's star came from!" Johanna said. "The one on her forehead!" she added, pointing at the star.  
  
StarPryde grew tense for a moment, concerning Kurt as he tilted his head to one side.  
  
"Mommy?" he asked.  
  
"Nightcrawler was right about that, my dears." StarPryde said softly. "It's better to wait until you're old enough to understand."  
  
"Aw, do we have to?" Johanna asked, putting on her I-want-to-get-my-way- really-bad look.  
  
"Yes." StarPryde nodded, her face becoming emotionless.  
  
"Why don' we go an' make some 'ot cocoa!" Rahne said, trying to defuse the situation.  
  
"Yay!" Johanna laughed, leaping off of her lap to help Rahne get up. Kurt stayed on his mother's lap for a moment, looking at her sadly.  
  
"What's the matter, honey?" StarPryde asked, brushing away a strand of cobalt hair the very same shade SkyElf's had been.  
  
"You were sad, mommy." Kurt said. "I could see it in your eyes." StarPryde looked her son in the eyes, and she marveled at how he looked like his father despite the "normal" features mixed in. She smiled a bit, picking him up as she got up.  
  
"It's nothing, Kurt." She said. "When you're older I'll tell you all about the mark on my head, and why your daddy is a hero ok?" she asked. Kurt wrapped his arms around her neck, resting his head on her shoulder as he let out a sigh that seemed a bit too mature for a five-year-old to make.  
  
"Ok, mommy." He said softly. 


End file.
